The 53rd edition of the Tirreno-Adriatico, the Corsa dei Due Mari(The Race of the Two Seas), organized by RCS Sport / La Gazzetta dello Sport and scheduled from 7 to 13 March 2018, has been launched this morning in the splendid setting of the Sala Macchi inside the Sanctuary of Loreto.

2017, the Colombian edition: with two stage wins (Nairo Quintana atop the Terminillo and Fernando Gaviria at Civitanova Marche) and the final classification (Quintana), the 2017 edition was the one with the most successes for Colombia. It was also the first time two Colombian riders won a stage at the Tirreno-Adriatico. The first Colombian rider to win a stage at the Race of the Two Seas was Quintana, whose breakthrough victory was on the Terminillo finish, in 2015.

Scarponi: this year stage 5 brings professional cycling to Filottrano. Scarponi climbed up onto the final podium of the Tirreno-Adriatico three times, winning the 2009 edition, and was second (tied on time with the winner, Stefano Garzelli) in 2010 then third, behind Cadel Evans and Robert Gesink, in 2011.

Sagan hunts for record: the UCI World Champion Peter Sagan, who has started at every Tirreno-Adriatico since 2012, and won a total of seven stages. He is just one success away from joining Alessandro Petacchi, Moreno Argentin and Giuseppe Saronni, who occupy the third position of all time (both with eight stage victories), behind Roger de Vlaeminck (15) and Oscar Freire (11).

Quintana and Nibali: two successes in the General Classification each. Both Vincenzo Nibali and Nairo Quintana have won the Tirreno-Adriatico twice: only one athlete has won more editions of the Race of the Two Seas, Roger de Vlaeminck (six).

A feat that has been missing for 10 years: the last rider to win three stages in a single edition at the Tirreno-Adriatico was Oscar Freire, in 2008.

Fasting Italy: Italian riders are experiencing the longest fast of victories in the history of Tirreno-Adriatico. In 2017, the sequence of consecutive stages without an Italian rider winning has reached 17 stages. The last Italian success at the Tirreno-Adriatico was by Adriano Malori in the opening Time Trial of the 2015 edition.